Merry Christmas!

Goodness. Christmas really snuck up on me this year. I mean, two weeks ago I was at the last Saturday show for White Christmas, and not even thinking about Christmas. Then there was the Christmas Tree lighting at Church, which was simply magical because we got to sing while it was snowing! It was so much fun. Speaking of snow, the next day we were out of school! An then the next day we were out. And the next day(Dad and I went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader that day, which was SO good.) By Thursday I was getting a little annoyed, because I actually wanted to get finals, gift giving, and goodbyes over with! But alas, we were out on Friday, I'm not taking finals, and I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone *sigh* oh well. Good thing for Facebook I guess! So that was last week.
This past week has been literally a weekend of sleepovers. Sunday night/Monday morning was spent at Brittaney's house, where we made sundaes, talked about anything and everything, playing pee poker(I got second place after drinking over sixty shots of water and being the second to go to the bathroom after holding my poor bladder for over 1 1/2 hours!), and falling asleep to She's the Man. Definitely what I was call a successful sleepover. The next day(Tuesday) consisted of music lessons with Mrs. Syder, and sleep recovery from the night before. On Wednesday I left at 9 am for Knoxville to hitch a ride with Laura to Nashville for my second Governor's School reunion! We arrived at David's house at about 6:00, and were greeted by Savannah and David. Many hugs ensued of course. After everyone else arrived, we ate a fabulous dinner cooked by David's "gourmet" chef of a Dad, took a ton of pictures of us dressed up in our finest, and played some hilarious games, thanks to Staci's genius creativity. Poor David and Savannah. Let's just say that using panti hose, balloons, and ribbon makes quite the hilarious reindeer costume. Then we changed into our PJ's, and played Dirty Santa. After practically paying JJ to trade my Obama chia head for his caramel popcorn, I ended with the edible gift. Of course. Better than the silly bands I guess! At about 1 am, I passed out in the comfy chair, while everyone else stayed to 5:30. Of course. I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to all-nighters. But it's OK I guess. That morning(Thursday) we chowed down on David's Dad's Mickey Mouse pancakes and cranberry juice. OH NOM NOM. We chilled in David's room and listed to music while digesting our breakfast, before getting out of our pajamas and preparing for an outing to explore where David lives. I must say, my friends are really great drivers. I hope I can be that good....once I get my permit. :P Anyways, we ended up eating lunch at P.F Changs, which was simply delightful. I've never eaten that much soup in my life! When we arrived back at David's house, JJ and Miranda left, and Laura and I were left to wait for Laura's Dad to take us back to Knoxville. It was sad saying goodbye to David. But after a three hour drive back to Knoxville, and an hour drive east, I was home! And very sleepy. Friday(Christmas Eve!) consisted of sleeping, chilling, and the Candlelight service at church. That was probably the highlight of my Christmas. Seeing all of those people hold up their candles during 'Silent Night' was very moving. And singing the high notes in 'O Holy Night' was so much fun. Definitely a successful service. And I got to open two presents that night! Mom and Dad got me a personalized Tervis Tumbler, and black slippers(which I'm wearing right now. SO SOFT.) After watching the Holiday with Mom and Dad, I went to sleep. Which leads me to:
Christmas Morning!
I awoke at 5 am, to look at what I recieved from good 'ole Kris Kringle, and saw:
A keyboard, a HP laptop, George Bush's autobiography, some professional grade shampoo, two Trollbeads(which are on backorder, so I'll get them in January), a scarf and some socks, my new school uniforms(lovely.), a purple peacoat, and a few other little things. I didn't get a lot of things on my list, but I've recieved many things throughout the year, so I'm throughly grateful. I'm trying not to take anything for granted, because knowing God, if you let material things get in the way of your relationship with him, he'll take it all away. So I'm definitely going to put him first always. :) After picture taking and gift opening, I went back to bed, then chilled until dinner. My Mom is the BEST. We ate turkey w/ dressing, mashed potatoes(homemade!!), peas, and topped it off with pumkin pie. So. Good. And that brings me to now. I'm sitting in the basement with my new laptop, waiting for Andrew to come back down and play modern warefare on his new "kinect" X Box 360, and maybe turn on First Baptist's Living Christmas tree pre recorded on TV. At this moment, life is good. :)
Next week my Aunt B.C and Uncle Matt will be coming in from Louisianna and staying with us for a few days. A Dollywood trip will definitely happen during next week. And then next Sunday, I move into my dorm at TKA! So exciting!
Well, that's all for now. I'm going to play around with my new laptop some more, and watch Dad and Andrew jump around in from of he Kinect. Merry Christmas everyone! :)